Women's registration goes up in Pune district

Oct 09, 2014, 05:48 IST
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Priyanka Deshpande

The ratio of female voters to male voters has increased since the Lok Sabha elections by 16, from 885 against 1,000 male voters; more youth between the ages 18 and 20 have also recently registered themselves for the elections

Women in Pune district seem to be focused on breaking the myth that they are apathetic towards the electoral system. They have enrolled themselves in large numbers for voting, especially in the three assembly segments of Pimpri, Chinchwad and Hadapsar. Officials in the District Election Department say the ratio of female voters has increased by 16 against male voters.

File pic for representation

“During the Lok Sabha elections, the female voters' ratio was 885 to 1,000 male voters. However, since we started a voters' registration drive from the month of May, a large number of women came forward to enroll themselves in the voters' registration list. This time the ratio is 901 female voters to 1,000 male voters,” said Deputy District Election Officer and Tahsildar, Seema Holkar. The total number of voters in Pune district is 68.21 lakh.

It was not an easy task for the District Election Department to convince women to register themselves. “We took a lot of effort in the last four months to increase the number of women voters. Our staff approached various self-help groups that are run by women in the villages of the district. Apart from approaching these women, convincing women labourers in Pune city was our major concern. However, we frequently held meetings with various labourers' and maids' associations,” added Holkar, who hopes that the women will turn up on the day of the assembly election. The total number of female voters is 32.30 lakh, while the male voters are 35.90 lakh.

In Chinchwad, 2.20 lakh women registered to cast their vote, while in Hadapsar and Pimpri 1.92 lakh and 1.76 lakh women respectively, enrolled themselves. “The major reason behind the large numbers of women voters in these three constituencies is the large number of people who have migrated here. These three constituencies are developing fast and therefore, a large population has lately settled down in these assembly segments. This population is now becoming permanent in the district and this made them register their names in the voters' list,” Holkar pointed out.

The ratio of youth — in the age group 18-20 — participating in the electoral system has also increased. “During LS elections, about 77,000 voters in the age group of 18-20 were registered. This time they have increased by 33,000,and now 1.10 lakh young voters will cast their vote in the upcoming assembly election,” said Holkar.